


Peppermint tea and impromptu confessions

by TangentQueenOfDragons



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Brotp, Gen, I love these guys okay, Juno is my son, Juno needs a hug, Pining, Rita is a good friend, Rita is everything, feelings happen, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8113207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TangentQueenOfDragons/pseuds/TangentQueenOfDragons
Summary: '“I feel like an idiot,” Juno admitted, and Rita promised herself she would sock Nureyev in the jaw if she ever saw him again.'
In which Juno is heartbroken over Nureyev and Rita is a great friend





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in this fandom (whoop)
> 
> Basically I love the idea of Rita looking out for Juno and this just happened I guess. I also like giving people feels. Lol
> 
> Shoutout to ace-pergers-syndrome for fanning over this as I wrote and being all encouraging lol
> 
> Enjoy!

  If you didn’t know Rita, you would think she needed looking out for. If you didn’t know Juno, you would think he could look out for himself.

 

  In reality, it was very much the opposite. Sure, Rita could be spacey and she mixed up her left from her right and okay, so a dozen is twelve not sixteen. Who cares? But she was smart. Very smart, the creative smart that baffled people and solved impossible problems. She was practical and optimistic and she didn’t really  _ need  _ anyone.

 

  Juno, on the other hand, was a hot mess.

 

 He was  the type to grab an apple and a jar of peanut butter and call that dinner. If he was out on a case, he’d stop and pick up something premade that he could just unwrap and eat. It drove Rita crazy, because food is supposed to be tasty and nutritious, so once a week or so, she would stop by with several tupperware containers of food that he could just grab from the fridge, and even microwave if he was feeling particularly giddy. Sometimes she placed a lunch bag onto his desk, good snacks and sandwiches with the crusts cut off the way he liked it.

 

  He would fall asleep in his office and spend the rest of the next day in the same clothes, often dirty or bloody depending on the case he had been on. So Rita had bought him some spare clothes and tucked them into one of his desk drawers for the nights he didn’t make it home. 

 

  Rita looked out for Juno, and she was fiercely protective of him. Which is why she had been so worried about him lately. Sleeping at the office more, picking at his food. Getting all quiet and looking off into the distance. And she was sure it was all that Rex Glass’ fault. Or Peter Nureyev (if that was his real name. It was the name he’d used to sign that note that Rita had totally accidentally stumbled across). She didn’t know what had conspired between the two of them, but she knew that  _ something _ had, and she knew Juno was hurting because of it, and if she had managed to find any shred on Nureyev she would have given him a piece of her mind and her left hook.

 

  Rita had always been of the opinion that Juno felt things more intensely than other people. Part of that was the hyperempathy, but mostly because he had a very delicate heart. Of course, he liked to pretend he was uncaring, but he was the kind of guy who wanted to help everyone, and took it hard when he couldn’t. 

 

  He was also the kind of guy who would never admit when he was hurting. He kept it bottled up until he burst. He certainly never reached out for support. 

 

  Which was why Rita was so surprised to see him sat outside her apartment when she got home.

 

  “Juno?”

 

  She didn’t call him Juno often. Only outside of work situations, and since they spent most of their time in those, it was very rarely that she used his name. But they weren’t at the office or on a case. It was her day off, it was late, and there was something about the way he was slumped against her door, his deep frown and his sad eyes, that made ‘Mr Steel’ feel too cold.

 

  “Rita. I, uh…” 

 

  She could see him wracking his brain for an excuse to be there. She smiled gently.

 

  “Come on inside. I got that peppermint tea you like.”

* * *

 

 

  “So,” Juno asked as they waited for the kettle to boil. “Where were you this late at night?”

 

  “Grocery shopping. You get good deals and it’s nice and quiet, except for a couple of weirdos.” She waited for him to make a comment about how she must have fit in perfectly or something, but it didn’t come. She frowned. “Come on, I practically handed you that zing. What’s up, Juno?”

 

  “You shouldn’t really call your boss by his first name, Rita,” he said, obviously trying to deflect her question.

 

  “You’re my boss at the office. Here you’re my friend,” she said matter-of-factly, taking the now whistling kettle off the hob. 

 

  Juno said nothing, and Rita didn’t push further. She poured the water into the teapot, readied two mugs whilst the tea bags steeped, one sugar for herself, half for Juno. He watched her like he wanted to say something, but remained silent.

 

  “You know, I’m surprised you ain’t wrinkled, what with all the frowning you do,” Rita said, pouring out his tea and sliding it over to him along with a teaspoon (the pedantic bastard always insisted on stirring it himself). He snorted.

 

  “Yeah, how will I ever get by without my youthful good looks?”

 

  “You joke, but a pretty face can be useful in our line of work.”

 

  She didn’t miss how Juno’s frown deepened. She decided she should just ask.

 

  “Is this about Peter Nureyev?”

 

  He flinched - actually flinched - at the name, before looking confused.

 

  “Wait, how do you know his name is..?”

 

  “Well I sort of accidentally found that note. Or maybe not so accidentally.  Don’t you look at me like that, you’ve been carrying that thing around everywhere, always rereading it when you think I ain’t looking. Moping, spacing out, hardly eating. I’ve been worried about you!”

 

  “I don’t need you to worry about me, Rita!”

 

  “No? Then why are you here?”

 

  Juno exhaled deeply, but didn’t answer her. She sighed and moved to sit down next to him, gently placing her hand over his.

 

  “Look, you ain’t gotta talk about it, even though I think you should. I just want you to know that you  _ can  _ talk to me about it if you want.”

 

  “I know. Thanks, Rita. I don’t even know why I’m here, I just… it’s pathetic, right? I only knew him for a day, and…”

 

  Oh.

 

  Suddenly it all made sense. Juno was… heartbroken. 

 

  It took a moment for that to sink in. In retrospect, it was obvious, but Rita was still surprised. Like Juno had said; he had only known Nureyev for a day. He had obviously fallen fast and fallen hard. 

 

  On second thought, that didn’t surprise her at all. That was exactly the kind of thing Juno  _ would  _ go and do. 

 

  “It happens,” she said, because what else could she say. 

 

  “I feel like an idiot,” Juno admitted, and Rita promised herself she would sock Nureyev in the jaw if she ever saw him again.

 

  “You ain’t an idiot.  _ He’s  _ a jerk. And a liar.”

 

  “And I fell for it.”

 

  “So did Dark Matters,” Rita reasoned.

 

  “It’s not the same.”

 

  “You’re right. Dark Matters should have a better screening process. They’re the idiots here. Rex Glass even sounds like a phoney name.”

  That made Juno smile, at least, even if just for a second. She smiled too, and pushed his mug closer to him.

 

  “Here. Drink it before it gets cold.”

 

  He drank his tea, but he was still thinking, still frowning. There was something else, something specific about the whole situation that was hurting him, beyond the deceit and the frustration with his own emotions, but she wasn’t sure what, and she didn’t want to ask. He had already shared a lot, and she didn’t want him to close himself off.

 

  “Did I brew the tea right this time?” she asked, wanting to fill the silence. Juno smiled.

 

  “Close enough, I guess.” 

 

  He stared into the pale amber liquid in his mug and the smile slipped from his face again.

 

  "You know… I  _ knew _ why he was there, what he was after from the start. I knew, but I still... I don't know. I guess, maybe I hoped that... I meant something. That I was enough to change his mind." He laughed, but there was no humour to it. "But I was just kidding myself."

 

  There were a hundred things Rita wanted to say to that, but before she could get a word out, Juno leaned his head on her shoulder.

 

  “Juno,” she said sadly, wrapping her arms around him. “You  _ are  _ worth it. Don’t you snort at me. You act all prickly, but you got the biggest heart of anyone I know. And you fell for a con man. He’s hardly the kind of guy to measure your self worth against. You know I’m right.”

 

  “I know, but…”

 

  “No buts. It’ll pass. But you need to stop blaming yourself.”

 

  “I thought you said no buts?”

 

  Rita smiled and slapped Juno playfully on the arm.

 

  “There’s the snarky detective Steel we all know and love. For the record, if Glass or Nureyev or whatever his name is ever shows his face around here again, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

 

  Juno laughed at that. He didn’t doubt it. Rita could surprise you. One time, someone had been shooting at them, and instead of turning the car around, she had run the guy over. If Nureyev ever  _ did  _ show his face on Mars again, he wouldn’t put it past Rita to make him regret it. 

  Not that he would. But it was a nice thought. 

  “Thanks, Rita.”

 

  “No need to thank me. You look out for the people you love,” she said easily, much more easily than Juno could ever even imagine saying such a thing. But then, Rita had a good, open heart. It took a lot of strength to maintain such a thing. It was a strength he admired.

 

  “Yeah, yeah,” he dismissed affectionately. 

 

  “So you wanna sleep on my couch tonight? Comfier than the one in your office.”

 

  “No, I’m gonna head home.”

 

  “You sure? I don’t like the thought of you sleeping in that office so much.”

 

  “I’m sure. I… I know I like to pretend that I never need anyone’s help, but… well, thanks. For… always looking out for me.”

 

  Rita smiled. She knew it wasn’t an easy thing for Juno to say that.

 

  “My pleasure. Now go home and get some sleep.”

* * *

 

  
  


  Juno sighed as he settled down on the couch in his office. He had meant to go home, he actually had. He had left Rita’s feeling a little better, a little lighter. Still wounded, but okay enough to stop acting like it.

 

  But halfway home, the memories had hit him; the betrayal, the smell of that cologne, the feeling of Nureyev’s hand on his waist, his lips. That damn kiss. 

 

  The evening had been emotional enough. He could deal with going back to his apartment tomorrow. For now, he needed some sleep.

 

  The next morning, Rita bustled in, jabbering away about the new book she was reading. She dropped a bag of pastries from the expensive bakery they rarely got to go to on Juno’s desk, and the two of them ate breakfast and organised the day. Juno felt more like himself again. 

  
  It was good to have a friend like Rita.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it? Please review and let me know what you think!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
